Crossing The Line
by sakura ten'nyo
Summary: Some lines are just meant to be crossed... AU Yuuki/Zero
1. Prologue: A Divided Place

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or anything associated with it. I just own the plot.**

Prologue: A Divided Place

In the small city of Barashi, there are two groups warring against each other. The Ningen: the bureaucratic humans; and the Kyuketsuki: the noble-born class of vampires. For decades, these two races have been divided by war, blood, and conflict. Kyuketsuki are looked down upon by humans as blood-sucking terrors of the night. Ningen are looked down upon by vampires as barbaric savages who will attack without reason.

And then there is the race that is shunned by both races; the Bloodless: a small, ragged group of humans that were turned into vampires by a Kyuketsuki. They are hated, feared, and despised by both races.

Tokai is the sleepy little district in the center of the city devoted to the arts. Artists from everywhere in the city and beyond make their livings in Tokai; painters, singers, musicians, dancers, poets, writers, chefs, and many more. There is little to do with the blood war there. Kyuketsuki hide their identities and pretend to be Ningen. But sometimes they slip and reveal their true nature. The city is brought together by the arts in Tokai. Kyuketsuki and Ningen alike come to the great Garasu Domu, or the Glass Dome, to hear symphonies played and see ballets danced. It is a beautiful place.

In the very middle of Tokai, only a few blocks away from the Glass Dome stands the small, rundown apartment building of Cross Academy. It isn't a real academy, of course, but the owner of the apartment building, Kaien Cross, always thought of it as a dorm. Therefore, he dubbed the place Cross Academy and dubbed himself the Chairman. It is here where our sad story begins.

Zero Kiriyu is a struggling but talented young painter living in Apartment 23 on the sixth floor of the old building. A quiet and often grumpy young man who usually keeps to himself and his work, the only time he ever leaves his apartment is to buy food, buy new paints and/or brushes and/or canvases, or if the Chairman drags him out to see something at the Glass Dome.

Unfortunately for Zero, it looked like it was going to be one of _those_ nights.


	2. Chapter 1: Ode To Joy

**Disclaimer: Same as last time.**

Chapter 1: Ode To Joy

A knock sounded on the door. Zero Kiriyu got up from his stool and wiped his hands on the dirty rag hanging out of his pocket. He leisurely walked to the door. The knocking became more persistent.

"I'm coming, Chairman, I'm coming!" he growled, annoyed. He opened the door to an excited Chairman holding something flat in his hands. One look at the flat object said a thousand words.

"No," he said. He turned and walked back into his apartment. The Chairman followed.

"Oh, come on, Zero! You'll enjoy it!" the older man pleaded. "Please? There are two tickets here, front row and everything!"

"No. I have work to do," answered the painter tersely. He picked up a paintbrush.

The Chairman thought for a moment. "If you come with me, I will forget about this month's rent," he tried.

Zero stopped and turned on his stool. "Make it two months and you've got yourself a deal."

The Chairman grinned. "Deal."

Zero dropped the dirty cloth onto the easel. "If we're going to see a ballet, I'm going to kill you." And when Zero Kiriyu said those words, you knew he meant it.

"No, it's not a ballet…mostly." Zero raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's a concert, but one of the ballerinas is dancing with the music. It's a charity thing."

Zero shook his head. "Fine. Just give me five minutes."

The Chairman smiled happily and left.

The walk to the Glass Dome was short, as usual. The cold night wind blew around the Chairman and his reluctant companion. The Chairman loved coming to the Glass Dome to experience the arts, especially the ballets. His niece was a dancer in Paris and he always hoped that it would be her dancing on the stage.

But tonight would be different. Tonight, she would be dancing on that stage. And he'd applaud, the proudest uncle in the audience. He'd be so proud.

"Chairman, are you okay?"

The older man started. "Yes, I'm fine, just thinking…"

The young artist rolled his eyes. The Chairman looked him over. You know, when he cleaned up, he wasn't all that intimidating. All he really needed was a clean pair of jeans and a clean dress shirt and he looked quite good, actually.

The great theater was full. Luckily, the Chairman and Zero got into their seats just as the curtain began to rise. Applause sounded in the audience. An orchestra sat ready to play. An older woman walked out onto the stage and spoke into a microphone.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," she said, her gravelly voice echoing throughout the hall. "My name is Hiromi Okada. I am the owner of the Garasu Domu. Tonight, our orchestra will be performing Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' while one of our leading ballerinas dances. And now, it is my great pleasure to introduce the Tokai Orchestra and Miss Yuuki Cross!"

The crowd broke out once again into polite applause. The Chairman was ecstatic to see his niece again. Zero leaned over.

"Cross? Is she related to you?"

But the Chairman just shook his head. "Distant cousin, maybe."

He vaguely heard a man talking to his date behind him. "These charity things are rarely ever decent. Why'd you even bother to buy tickets, Kaya?"

The Chairman turned around and promptly shushed them.

The orchestra struck up and an angel ran onto the stage. Not a real angel, of course, but the most beautiful girl Zero had ever seen. Her shiny auburn hair was swept up in a bun at the nape of her long pale neck. Her lovely face was devoid of emotion, but her body told the story. Her feet moved quickly on the hardwood stage, matching the quick pace of the first bars of music. She used her whole body to portray the feelings in the piece.

She leaped and twirled and spun to the music and the choir singing in the background. The girl's white costume glimmered in the stage lights **(A/N: see my profile for a picture of her tutu.)**. Zero sat watching her, mesmerized by the grace and beauty this girl exuded. The music swelled as it came to an end and the ballerina did something that Zero thought impossible. She spun around and around and around and around until she sprang lightly into the air, twirled again, landed delicately on her feet, and stopped in perfect time with the music. The concert was over.

The audience burst into enthusiastic applause, cheering and standing up. The ballerina smiled sweetly and bowed gracefully, then dashed off the stage.

Zero stood there, awe-struck as the audience trickled out. The Chairman pulled on his arm.

"Come on, Zero! There is someone, I'd like you to meet."

Zero was led to a door by the stage and pulled in. He was met by several odd looks from musicians and sponsors, most likely due to his unusual coloring, but he ignored them and followed the Chairman to a dressing room. The older man knocked on the door. It was opened by the young ballerina. The makeup had been wiped from her face and her hair let down, but the rest was the same. She was the angel who had danced so beautifully on the stage. Zero felt something tug in his chest, something strange and frightening.

Her face lit up when she saw the Chairman.

"UNCLE KAIEN!" she shrieked. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. He laughed and returned her embrace, twirling her around like a little girl.

"Yuuki! You were so wonderful this evening," he praised excitedly. She smiled beautifully up at him. Then her eyes settled on Zero. Her eyebrows shot up and she smiled timidly.

"Hi," she said shyly.

The Chairman noticed their small exchange. "Oh goodness! I completely forgot to introduce you two!" He wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders. "Yuuki, this is Zero Kiriyu; he is one of my renters and a good friend. Zero, this is my niece, Yuuki Cross."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "You told me that she was a distant relative."

Yuuki peered up at her uncle. The Chairman blushed. "It was for dramatic effect."

She giggled and Zero shook his head. "Good to meet you, Miss Cross," Zero said detachedly. He extended his hand to shake, but only to be polite.

Yuuki took his large warm hand in her tiny cool one and shook it, smiling up at him. "Please, call me Yuuki. Miss Cross makes me sound like I'm a schoolteacher." She let go of his hand and felt a pang as she watched him quickly withdraw it, as if he had been stung. "Did you enjoy the performance?"

He looked down at the tiny young woman. She must have been about five feet tall, like a little porcelain doll. He nodded stiffly, his face emotionless. A flash of pain glinted her large brown eyes but was quickly replaced with a cheerful glow.

"I'm glad!" she said happily.

The Chairman gave Zero a sad look then turned and smiled at Yuuki. "My dear, why don't I take you out to dinner and we can catch up? Zero's treat."

Zero's eyebrow went up again. Yuuki giggled softly. "I'd love to, but I can't," she said sadly. "I have to warm down and then I have to go talk to Madame."

The Chairman's eyes went wide in recognition. "This is the 'Madame' that I met?"

She nodded.

He shuddered. "Good luck, then."

She grimaced. "I'll need it." Then she seemed to remember something. "Oh! I almost forgot, Uncle Kaien! Could I talk to you inside for a second?"

The Chairman glanced back at Zero, who waved him on. "I'm heading back anyway, work to do."

The older man sighed. "Fine. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

Zero then turned to Yuuki. He nodded quickly. "Miss Yuuki," he stated stiffly.

"It was nice to meet you!" Yuuki called after him as he turned and left. Then she looked to her uncle. "Is he always like that?"


	3. Chapter 2: Neighbors

**Disclaimer: I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count.**

Chapter 2: Neighbors

Zero Kiriyu was listening to his favorite symphony. The sound of a paintbrush flying over a canvas and Aerosmith. To him there was no other sound that was sweeter in the whole world.

Except for the laugh of Yuuki Cross.

Huffing in agitation, he reached over to his iPod speakers and turned the volume up another notch. That little slip of a girl was not getting on his good side, even if she was the landlord's niece. Nope, sorry, Angelina Ballerina.

He vaguely heard thumping coming from the next apartment over. Annoying. Trying his best to ignore it, he returned to his painting. The thumping continued. He sighed, exasperated. Putting down his paintbrush and pausing the music, he walked over to the wall and pounded his fist on it. The thumping stopped briefly but quickly started up again. He pounded on the wall again, now thoroughly peeved by the incessant banging. Then the noise on the other side of the wall pounded back.

After a few more minutes of pounding on the wall back and forth, Zero finally gave up and went back to his painting. He turned the music up as loud as it would go and picked up his paintbrush.

Two minutes later, there was a loud knock on his door. He rolled his eyes and dropped his paintbrush into the jar of water by his easel. Picking up the paint-stained rag, he stood and walked to the door. He unlocked the door and opened it.

Now Zero Kiriyu had seen enough in his life to be unsurprised by just about anything. But this…this one topped his list of events that surprised him.

Standing in the hallway outside of his door, and looking thoroughly unhappy, was one Miss Yuuki Cross.

Her eyes went wide when she recognized her new neighbor. Then they narrowed again.

"So you're the wise-guy who's been driving me crazy with that racket all morning, huh?"

He raised his eyebrow. "And you must be the little pest who's been driving me equally crazy with your thumping," he retorted easily.

The small woman looked furious and she glared heatedly up at him. "Well, excuse me, _sir,_" she said mockingly, poking him in the chest with every word. "But I wasn't the _insensitive jerk_ who decided to blare Aerosmith at seven in the freaking morning!"

She was now inside his apartment, having pushed her way inside as he backed away from her.

"And on top of that, you-" But she stopped and stared. She wasn't looking at him…she was looking behind him. She moved past him to stand in front of the painting he was working on. Even though it was unfinished, she stood before it, transfixed by its beauty.

It was a woman, from what she could tell. A very beautiful woman with a distant look in her cat-like eyes and a long slender neck. She had an almost…sad feeling about her, as if the leopard that sat near her was the only creature in the world that loved her. The background, splashed indigo, orange, and red, burned around the woman with an animalistic ferocity. It was truly art.

Zero stood behind his unwelcome guest, gazing at the woman on the canvas. Suddenly, Yuuki turned to him.

"Who is she?" she inquired softly.

Broken from his reverie, he grabbed a sheet from the floor and flung it over the unfinished painting. He didn't turn to look at her.

"No one," he muttered.

Yuuki looked around at the rest of the room. Finished canvases lay scattered everywhere. And each one of them amazed her.

One depicted a view of the city at sunrise. Another was a small boy in a black coat holding a red balloon. His pieces were almost morbid, but hauntingly beautiful at the same time. But her favorite was one of a young woman with dark hair sprawled out on the snow in a white dress. In her hand was a red rose.

"How do you come up with these?" she asked in wonder.

He flipped the paintings over so that the backs were only visible. "I don't know," he mumbled angrily.

Yuuki whirled to face him, her shoulder-length hair swinging around her face.

"Okay, what is your issue?!" she demanded angrily. "All I'm trying to do is make polite conversation and be a nice neighbor. And what do I get in return? ATTITUDE!"

He had to admit, she was pretty scary when she got worked up. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

"You know what?" she said. "How about we compromise? If you keep it down in here, I'll keep it down in there. I don't bother you, you don't bother me. Deal?" She stuck out her hand for him to shake.

He shrugged. "Fine." They shook on it and Yuuki smiled.

"Great! Well, it's been lovely talking to you, Mr. Kiriyu, but I have to get to rehearsal. So I guess I'll see you around."

He grunted and shrugged again. She sighed.

"Okay, then," she muttered. She took one more look at the back of the paintings and then left.

Zero walked back to his painting and uncovered it. He turned the music back on, and then remembered to turn it down.


End file.
